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GOG.com is a digital distribution platform – an online store with a curated selection of games, an optional gaming client giving you freedom of choice, and a vivid community of gamers.
All of this born from a deeply rooted love for games, utmost care about customers, and a belief that you should own the things you buy.

What is GOG.com about?

Hand-picking the best in gaming. A selection of great games, from modern hits to all-time classics, that you really shouldn’t miss.

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First off, love this game; amazing, and shocked I don't hear it spoken of in the same breath as Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment.

Now, onto questions.

1. Magic items sometimes have abbreviations which are not found in the acronym section of the manual. What do they stand for? For example, "MR".

2. Is this a correct statement? All magic items have a "Magic Power Available XXX%" stat. The stat may go as high as 100%, but only if the character using it has Magical Affinity 100%, and only if the item in question has the potential to go that high. Not all items can reach 100%, even when equipped by a character with 100% Magical Affinity.

3. Unlike magic items, machined/technological items do not appear to have a corresponding "Technological Power Available XXX%". How are such items affected by a character's magical/technological aptitude?

4. Can summoned creatures and automatons gained levels?

5. Why does the community recommend Drag Black Tooth's Unofficial Arcanum Patch instead of Arcanum:WIP 6.0? My understanding is that the two are incompatible.

6. Having now played through the game once (mage-diplomat build), what mods/hacks/modules do you recommend for subsequent playthroughs? I considered Carcanum, but it sounds like it's execution does not equal its ambition. I have seen a bunch of Modules on the Terra Arcanum site, apparently made by Troika.

7. How do I teach schematics to my technological party members?

8. Very late in the game, all of my party members' Reactions toward my (good-aligned) character took a sharp negative turn. I do not know why this happened. I thought it might have something to do with having a Dark Helm in my inventory, but I dropped it and that didn't seem to fix the problem. I am wondering if their alignments somehow changed, or if it has something to do with starting on the Ancient Gods quest. Does anybody have some insight?

9. The game ostensibly allows only 6 followers, at max (20 Cha, Expert Persuasion). However, I was running around with 7 by end game, not including Dog (Worthless Mutt) who does not count toward the maximum. I am trying to figure out what glitch I exploited. You see, I could drop a party member, and they would not rejoin my party because "You have too many party members already". At one point I had Chukka Dog (Worthless Mutt) Loghair Magnus Raven Sogg Mead Mug Virgil Weldo Rubin

I had to drop Weldo when Raven temporarily leaves the party because she wouldn't rejoin.

10. Any advice on building and playing a technologist? I hear that I basically need a lot of inventory space.

11. What good is Conjure Spirit? I know it can be used to speak to a corpse at the Elven Ruins and find out what happened to him, but that's an extremely limited use.

12. Sometimes, when I created several nodes to follow on a map, my character wouldn't move at all, or would move only a little way. What is wrong with the game?

13. What determines whether a merchant will buy any specific good? I know they'll normally purchase only within a certain class of goods, but beyond that, is it random?

14. Am I correct in observing that junk dealers will buy practically anything, but normally at ridiculously low prices?

15. How often does Reaction really matter? I can think of only one quest where a low Reaction made any bit of difference. Mind you, I had the Extreme Personality background, and walked around with Purity of Water cast one to three times on myself, along with a Smoking Jacket. I'm just wondering how different the game would have been if I didn't have Purity of Water, Extreme Personality, or a Smoking Jacket.

16. Do any of the Backgrounds give you "special" dialogue options, in the same way a low intelligence does?

17. How low does your Intelligence need to be in order to get the "dumb" responses?

18. How high does your Intelligence need to be to get all of the game's quests that have an Intelligence prereq? I know it's 12, at most, but I wonder if I can get away with lower (I never sustained more than two spells, so I don't need it for being cast-y).

19. Is there a way to prevent my followers from picking up objects from the ground?

20. Is there a way to prevent my followers from automatically equipping what they believe to be the most optimal equipment?

21. Are the following statements correct? A) If your character begins with a bonus to an Attribute (whether from a background or race), the highest they can raise that Attribute is (20 + Initial Bonus), B) If your character begins with a penalty to an Attribute, the highest they can raise that Attribute is 20. C) If your character begins with a bonus to a Skill (whether from a background or race), the highest they can raise that Skill is 5. D) If your character begins with a penalty to a Skill (whether from a background or race), the highest can they raise that Skill is [actually, I know it's capped, but I don't know the conversion formula]. Blessings can enable a character to raise a Skill (whether from a background or race), even if they have a cap, but Blessings do not count toward meeting prereqs for Apprentice/Expert/Master training.

22. If a character can get their Charisma over 20, can they acquire even more followers? Or does the # cap at 5 (6 with Expert Persuasion)?

23. Is there a prereq for making Torian Kel appear? Maybe I just missed him; but I want to say that I visited his room in the Ancient Temple, but didn't find him. Not that I could have recruited him at the time - I played good-aligned.

24. Is there a way to determine the hidden properties of magical items? I know that magical items, especially cursed ones, do have hidden properties.

25. I accepted Edward Willoughsby's quest in Tarant, but ran into a problem. When I tried visiting Pollock's place, I found the door locked, and I could not open it (although my magical affinity wasn't maxed out yet, and so Unlocking Cantrip might just not have been up to the job). Why is this? Is it because I accepted the quest? Mind you, I had sided with Pollock in the Boil conflict between the gangs.

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1. MR stands for your magic resistance, a bonus (or penalty) to damage from magic spells and the magic bonus from certain weapons. Techies have an innate MR proportional to their TA (tech aptitude) while mages can buy items which boost theirs.

2. Not exactly. What you get is full benefit from a magic item if your MA meets or exceeds its. So if an item's MA is 50, you get 100% of its benefits if yours is at least 50 as well. No item ever goes over 100% MA, so you can in theory reach full power even on arcane weapons and armor.

3. The more magic you are, the greater the chance your use of a tech item will cause it to critically fail. Mages shouldn't play with guns. Ever.

4. No. What you summon them at is where they'll stay. Protip: Get to 100% MA, max out Summoning and cast Familiar. I think you'll appreciate what you get.

5. Because the patch is tested, trusted, and a labor of love by someone who loves the game itself.

6. Fellow GOG'er ewmarch has his balancing app, located <span class="bold">here</span>. Also, the Level Cap Remover allows you to do side quests without worrying about reaching level 50 halfway through the game.

7. You can't. Four of your potential followers can learn up to level 4 in two apiece of the eight tech disciplines; and one of them (Franklin Payne) learns the first level in all of them. But you're the only one who can learn schematics. (No worries, though; learning schematics doesn't affect your MA either way.)

8. In the unpatched game, the Dark Helm's penalties are permanent and cumulative, so that's a very real possibility. One more reason to patch the game before your next playthrough.

9. I'm not sure; I've never maxed out followers. Try dropping Dog, then re-adding it as a free follower afterward. Or perhaps Virgil always joins.

10. You need inventory space (or a follower as a pack mule), components (which can be a pain to find or collect), and probably tech manuals (since without the Level Cap Remover, you probably won't be able to learn everything anyway). Techies also lose bonuses from magic items, in proportion to their TA. One of the issues with this otherwise wonderful game is the extent of the magic-tech imbalance.

11. It's a gameplay thing. You can kill shopkeepers, kings (and IIRC even main quest NPCs such as Gilbert Bates or Loghaire) and then find out what you need to know from their corpse.

12. It's a glitch. I believe it may have something to do with encumbrance. Try using fewer and/or closer waypoints, and if that doesn't work, just walk.

13. It's not random; in general, merchants buy what they sell. The only way to overcome this is to invest in Haggle expertise. Then everyone will buy just about anything... though not all at the same price.

14. This is true. If they won't buy it, it's worthless except as a tech component.

15. If your reaction is too low, people may attack you as soon as you try and talk with them, or even on sight. But in general, you can usually persuade them to look past your flaws.

16. Idiot Savant background also gives you the dumb dialogue, despite the IN bonus. And high IN unlocks certain dialog options, as do ranks in the Persuasion skill.

17. Anything below 5. An IN of 5 is also the minimum needed to cast spells.

18. You can do it with an IN of 11. (Except possibly the Ashbury mayor's quest; I always used a Potion of Intellect there anyway.)

19. Only by keeping them far enough away. Good luck with that.

20. Unfortunately, not. The game's algorithm equates an item's cost with its value, even when it's known to be cursed. The only exception appear to be mages with tech items.

21. A) True, within limits. Most non-ogres can't get Strength past 20 or 21, for example. Charisma may have a similar hard limit.

B) The highest is 20 minus that penalty. If you start with a -1 penalty to DX, you'll max out at 19. This affects IN as well, but you can get around it (one real-time minute at a time) with a Potion of Intellect. So you can still have that half-ogre mage, if you really want.

C) True. But keep in mind that part-level bonuses count as an extra level, in terms of qualifying for apprenticeship, expertise and mastery.

D) The opposite is also true. A 1/4 rank penalty to Melee caps you at 4-3/4. But since you only need 4-1/4 for mastery, you're still good. (Except for Persuasion; see next.)

E) Blessings fully count toward stats and skills, for as long as you have them. The only exception appears to be Persuasion, which sometimes requires an additional skill point investment even when you appear to be maxed out. This is the only skill where you not only need a full five ranks, but at least 19 in the stat (rather than 15 or 18, depending). You can get the mastery quest without a CH of 19, but you can't succeed at it well enough to earn the rank of master.

22. Except for the glitch you somehow found, six followers is a hard cap. As may be 20 CH; I've never actually played a background with a Charisma bonus.

23. SPOILERS.

.

.

.

He's at the end of the dungeon, by himself past a long trap-filled hall. First he requests a vial of dragon's blood, and shows you where to get it. Then, once he's reanimated, he'll join you if you have either a CH of 20 or an alignment not too far from -10. (He's a bit evil, but hates extremes either way.)

24. This is precisely why I bought the official strategy guide, years ago. If you have a question about a specific item, ask.

25. You should be able to bypass the door via the sewers, or pick it (which requires skill in Pick Locks and a handy set of lockpicks) or just bust through it with an axe. Or someone nearby may have the key, which you can pickpocket.

If this rather extensive response has helped, please don't forget to mark it as the solution. (Among other things, it lets everyone else know that your original question — or in this case, questions — were answered.) And feel free to ask any follow-up questions you may have. Thanks.

Post edited November 28, 2013 by TwoHandedSword

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2. Magic items have some normal stats and some stats in bracets. The normal stats are always there but the stats in bracets are added by a certain percentage)

example: you have a sword with damage 10 (+10) With "magic power avaible 100%" you do 20 damage. With 50% you do 15 and with 0% 10 damage. How much magic applitude you need for 100% magic power is different for every item. If you have no magic or tech applitude it is usually 50%.

3. When you have a tech applitude, tech items will not have an additional chance of a critical failure. Tech items will have an increased chance of critical failures as your magic applitude goes up. But They will not get better as your tech applitude gies up. Thats why magic items are usually better. So you should have an applitude of 0 (as tech user) or +100 as magic user. A high tech applitude leads only to high magic resistance. There are very few enemies that attac you with magic, so a high tech value will mostly hinder your healing.

8. As far as I know, the only follower who changes his alignment is virgil if you go the evil way.

15. I don´t know what difference a good reaction does, but people will attac you when their reaction towards you goes below 0. I play an evil char now and I need to wear a nice suit (+20 reaction) if I do not want to be attaced in some towns. Looks like many people do not like half orc thieves who slaughter whole towns, assassinate kings and work for criminals.

17. with an intelligence below 5 you cannot cast magic, you cannot use scrolls and you talk like an idiot. You will miss many quests but it is super funny. Right now I play an evil idiot orc thief.

20. They will equip the most expensive item in every slot. Unfortuanatly, many tech items are cheaper than normal items of the same type. The only way I know: give him the item you want him to use and take away every item he likes more. For armors, you can have a small char carry a large item in his inventory if you like. Armors are the biggest and heaviest items.

21. This is very complicated. This is what I think: -You can increase any stat by up to 12 points. (8=standart base value, 20= standart max value). If your starting value is below 8, you can increase it by 12 using character points. But you can increase it up to 20 using items. -If you have a race without a bonus in this stat and your starting value is 8 or higher, you can increase it to 20 using character points. -If you have a race with a stat bonus and your background bonus does not lower this stat, you can increase the stat to your racial base stat +12. example: I play an orc (base strengh 9) who was raised in the pits (str+2). The starting value was 11, but the max value is 21 (race base strengh+12). -An Ogre has a racial strengh bonus of 4. His max value is 24. If you use a background that reduces strengh by 2, your max value will be 22.

Some other things I have found out: -Some weapons do not get damaged when you attac objects or elementals (arcane weapons and pyro axe, I think). But all armors get damaged when you are hit by some enemies (tested with fire elemental while wearing arcane armor) -never use mage followers in your party. They will waste their blue bar (name forgotten) with useless spells and then they will attac the enemy with a weapon (they never hit and if they do their damage is low). -Do not store things in trash cans. They change their contend often. I used a chest in the open tarant sewers as storage (there are 2 thiefs you have to kill) -backstab is a useful skill. I am master, have lots of strengh and a big sword. When I attac enemies from behind I do usually 10-20 points more damage than normal. Sometimes it is more and sometimes less. Does anynody know how the extra damage is calculated.

I have played the game 3 times. First came a mage/fighter. Second was a half elf debutantee with max int, cha persuation and some magic who tried to get the best result in every quest. I was a bit disappointed that not all of my effords were mentioned in the final credits. Now I play an evil idiot orc thief (max str, dex, melee, dodge, pick pocket, backstab, open locks). If I play this game again, I want to be an evil genius (I like to play a gnome). I want to play it solo, I want to be a technologist (create the best equipment for yourself) and I want to get all quests and finish them the most evil way, if possible. I will have lots of intelligence.

A: Do you need high charisma and a good reaction to get all quests? If you need charisma I will not play solo but take evil chars (torian kel sounds good)

B: Is there a moment in the game where you have to persuate someone to do something evil? I do not want to talk in order to avoid violence. I want to cause violence and force others to do evil things as well.

C: When my chars used a weapon, it was a melee weapon. I do not want to use bows or guns because they need ammo. Is throwing a good choice for a (solo) tech char and is your strengh bonus added to throwing weapons? Otherwise I will stay with melee (backstabbing with a pyro axe sounds fun)

D: Whats the best way to heal a tech char? Are there enough herbs to make medicine? Are bandages and max healing skill better? Something else? Until now I used only healing magic because it recovers by waiting so you don´t have to carry items. Most enemies are easy, but there are many traps and by some things you take damage when you attac.

E: I have read that several people use automatons. How do you heal them? (repair skill?)

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TwoHandedSword: 1. MR stands for your magic resistance, a bonus (or penalty) to damage from magic spells and the magic bonus from certain weapons. Techies have an innate MR proportional to their TA (tech aptitude) while mages can buy items which boost theirs.

Are there any other abbreviations that aren't listed in the acronym section? I thought there were.

TwoHandedSword: 4. No. What you summon them at is where they'll stay. Protip: Get to 100% MA, max out Summoning and cast Familiar. I think you'll appreciate what you get.

Tried it already. :-) I did think the familiar was pretty good, although he was a few levels lower than my main... still, the game's easy enough that it doesn't matter.

Have you tried it? The thread suggested mixed reviews. Like, it fixes some things - and does a great job of it, but it botches other aspects of the game, and has some glaring holes that will be a bother during the course of play.

TwoHandedSword: Also, the Level Cap Remover allows you to do side quests without worrying about reaching level 50 halfway through the game.

Interesting. I actually was rocking only level 42 when I beat the game.

TwoHandedSword: 7. You can't. Four of your potential followers can learn up to level 4 in two apiece of the eight tech disciplines; and one of them (Franklin Payne) learns the first level in all of them. But you're the only one who can learn schematics. (No worries, though; learning schematics doesn't affect your MA either way.)

Do they learn automatically? Like, I would look at Magnus' screen, but I knew nothing about how to navigate it. I just assumed you didn't have levels - that you just had schematics. I guess a better way to put it is: I know nothing about the way technology works in this game, so I had no idea how to use it with my tech characters, and it didn't seem intuitive.

TwoHandedSword: 8. In the unpatched game, the Dark Helm's penalties are permanent and cumulative, so that's a very real possibility. One more reason to patch the game before your next playthrough.

Oh! Actually, I did use the unofficial patch. And the high-res town maps patch.

I did not use the high resolution patch. I think it actually makes the game look worse, because it either zooms out or boxes in everything.

TwoHandedSword: 11. It's a gameplay thing. You can kill shopkeepers, kings (and IIRC even main quest NPCs such as Gilbert Bates or Loghaire) and then find out what you need to know from their corpse.

So you could be an evil necromancer who kills people he hates, then raises them to force them into giving him quests?

TwoHandedSword: 15. If your reaction is too low, people may attack you as soon as you try and talk with them, or even on sight. But in general, you can usually persuade them to look past your flaws.

But there's not usually a benefit for people feeling courteous or loving toward you?

TwoHandedSword: 22. Except for the glitch you somehow found, six followers is a hard cap. As may be 20 CH; I've never actually played a background with a Charisma bonus.

While acknowledging that this would unbalance the game even more, I wish there was a mod to remove the cap. There's just so many interesting party members, I wish I could take them all.

TwoHandedSword: 24. This is precisely why I bought the official strategy guide, years ago. If you have a question about a specific item, ask.

Dark Helm Also, any particularly notable magic items you are likely to happen upon regularly, very likely to use, or unfortunately likely to dismiss only because you weren't aware it had a special property.

You ought to consider getting that data from the guide uploaded to the net. I'm sure I'd be an invaluable resource for players.

And a couple other questions... 26. What determines when a follower gains a level? Is it based entirely on the XP you gain?

27. Opinions on the official modules, like Hellgate, Time, and Well of Souls? Incidentally, I don't know how to access/find those locations in the game itself. Are they automatically marked?

28. While I'm at it, any fun facts I should know about the game? I run a video game blog at: http://theswordemperor.wordpress.com/ where I'll be posting about this game, and I like to prepare my reviews with as much info as reasonably possible.

Post edited November 28, 2013 by TheSwordEmperor

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26. Your followers gain a level whenever you gain a level. They must be in your party when you get a level. When you get level 50, you will continue to get EXP and your group members will level up whenever your red bar gets full until they are lv. 50.

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30. What happens when a technological device other than a weapon critically fails? Can a non-weapon critically fail? Or can I just run around with a boatload of machined equipment?

31. In order for an item to be considered technological, it must have the background with the "gear" watermark, correct?

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I have played a half-ogre raised in the pits, and gotten him to a ST of 30. I've also played an ugly-stick dwarf and gotten his DX to 20.

Mad3: -Some weapons do not get damaged when you attac objects or elementals (arcane weapons and pyro axe, I think). But all armors get damaged when you are hit by some enemies (tested with fire elemental while wearing arcane armor)

Add almost all thrown weapons to that list. Plus, if the fire elemental never gets close enough to attack you, your armor never gets burned.

Mad3: -backstab is a useful skill. I am master, have lots of strengh and a big sword. When I attac enemies from behind I do usually 10-20 points more damage than normal. Sometimes it is more and sometimes less.

Mad3: A: Do you need high charisma and a good reaction to get all quests? If you need charisma I will not play solo but take evil chars (torian kel sounds good)

B: Is there a moment in the game where you have to persuate someone to do something evil? I do not want to talk in order to avoid violence. I want to cause violence and force others to do evil things as well.

C: When my chars used a weapon, it was a melee weapon. I do not want to use bows or guns because they need ammo. Is throwing a good choice for a (solo) tech char and is your strengh bonus added to throwing weapons? Otherwise I will stay with melee (backstabbing with a pyro axe sounds fun)

D: Whats the best way to heal a tech char? Are there enough herbs to make medicine? Are bandages and max healing skill better? Something else? Until now I used only healing magic because it recovers by waiting so you don´t have to carry items. Most enemies are easy, but there are many traps and by some things you take damage when you attac.

E: I have read that several people use automatons. How do you heal them? (repair skill?)

A. You need Persuasion to unlock many quests. But getting ALL of them is impossible: some require good alignment, some evil, and some master-level rank in a given skill. Unless you remove the level cap, you probably won't be able to DO ALL THE THINGS... and even then, it'd have to be a specific build with that particular goal in mind.

B. You sometimes have to convince followers on the fence to not abandon or attack you for doing evil things. Alternately, with 20 CH no follower will ever leave you, not even Chukka.

C. Throwing is my preferred attack style; I agree with you about ammo. Strength bonuses do NOT stack with Throwing; for me this is a plus, since it allows me to invest in Dexterity early for more attacks. And the best throwing weapon in the game, which you get as part of the master quest, is among the five best weapons overall.

D. Healing salves should be all you need, unless you want to invest all the way up to cure-alls. Components are plentiful in herb shops, or you could wander the crash site, the first town, and random areas of the wilderness. Don't waste points in Healing (or Intelligence, its requirement) unless you're prepared to master it. And the master healer, once you reach her, will always heal you for free.

E. Yes. Repair expertise limits max HP loss to 1% of original HP, which is good enough for most purposes.

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about stats: Mad3: 21. This is very complicated. This is what I think: I have played a half-ogre raised in the pits, and gotten him to a ST of 30. I've also played an ugly-stick dwarf and gotten his DX to 20.

I play a half orc, raised in the pits. I can increase the strengh to 21, but not higher. I do not have any mods, only the unofficial patch.

A+B: I want to play solo or with evil chars. So I do not care about what my followers think. I want to have most quests, especially the evil ones (As written, I played already a char with max int, cha and persuation to make everything good).

C: Are there good tech throwing weapons? Do you need perception for throwing? Some explosives look good, but you need to carry them around. But I need some strengh to wear the best equipment (self made) and other items without being encumbred.

D: I want to have a tech char with much int. According to gamefaqs.com, the master healer helps only good chars (But my idiot had to use a fate point for "force good reaction" to get the quest from the master of spot traps so this should work here too). The fact that she heals you is useless when you are in a dungeon and she´s in town. Looks like I have to learn to make medicine. I have heard that you can build a heal-bot. Does it need "ammo" to heal you?

Are there any useful rings or amulets for tech chars except the charged rings?

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-Do ranged weapons cause friendly fire? It happened often that enemies fired arrows at me and hit each other. -Does every ranged weapon hit the closest thing, even if you target the thing behind it? -Is there any weapon that can hit more than one enemy? (Like many enemies stand behund each other in a line).

I have never used ranged weapons before. I am especially interested in throwing weapons.

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TwoHandedSword

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TheSwordEmperor: Are there any other abbreviations that aren't listed in the acronym section? I thought there were.

Possibly; if you come across one you can't puzzle out, just ask.

TheSwordEmperor: Have you tried it? The thread suggested mixed reviews. Like, it fixes some things - and does a great job of it, but it botches other aspects of the game, and has some glaring holes that will be a bother during the course of play.

I haven't, myself. What he considers fair and balanced includes some assumptions I don't necessarily agree with. I've pointed it out as an alternative experience for you to consider, since you said you were looking for one.

TheSwordEmperor: I actually was rocking only level 42 when I beat the game.

That will most likely change, as you explore all the dungeons, sewers, side quests, hidden locations and the Old Gods quest.

TheSwordEmperor: Do they learn automatically? Like, I would look at Magnus' screen, but I knew nothing about how to navigate it. I just assumed you didn't have levels - that you just had schematics. I guess a better way to put it is: I know nothing about the way technology works in this game, so I had no idea how to use it with my tech characters, and it didn't seem intuitive.

Each follower has their own predetermined build scheme, so they will learn those schematics on a set schedule as they level up with you. You will then be able to give them the necessary components and ask (tell) them to build you what they can, by right-clicking on their avatar on the main screen.

For the found schematics, you can purchase tech manuals at the Tarant University. 1) Their use is dependent on your IN, so I recommend quaffing a Potion of Intellect while buying them (unpatched game) or using them (patched version). 2) They are heavy and fairly expensive, so they are generally more of a mid- to late-game investment unless you have a particular schematic in mind. 3) Tech manuals, like found schematics, don't affect your TA/MA balance.

TheSwordEmperor: I did not use the high resolution patch. I think it actually makes the game look worse, because it either zooms out or boxes in everything.

I agree.

TheSwordEmperor: So you could be an evil necromancer who kills people he hates, then raises them to force them into giving him quests?

In theory, yes. Some undead spirits may be less co-operative than others, though.

TheSwordEmperor: But there's not usually a benefit for people feeling courteous or loving toward you?

Shopkeepers will give you better prices, and Raven might try to make smoochy-smoochy with you. Otherwise no, not that I've found.

TheSwordEmperor: While acknowledging that this would unbalance the game even more, I wish there was a mod to remove the cap. There's just so many interesting party members, I wish I could take them all.

Part of the game's replay value is that certain sets of characters interact with each other, as well as with specific NPCs you meet on the main quest line. Often in surprising ways.

TheSwordEmperor: Dark Helm. Also, any particularly notable magic items you are likely to happen upon regularly, very likely to use, or unfortunately likely to dismiss only because you weren't aware it had a special property.

Dark Helm gives you a small aptitude bonus (the equivalent what you get for having 20 IN) while subtracting 20 from your current alignment. As mentioned before, in the unpatched game this loss is permanent, and cumulative every time you put the helm back on.

Azram's Star has a huge critical hit bonus, which is why it's one of the best weapons in the game. It's also nearly immune to damage from rock and fire monsters; all chakrams and arcane weapons have the same ability.

Pyrotechnic axes are one of the best tech weapons, though the schematic is somewhat hidden. You need fuel to create it but not to maintain it, making it surprisingly useful.

The best bow is oddly enough not the Arcane Bow; it's a one-off you get for completing an easy quest in Qintarra. What makes it so good is its speed, which is more than double that of most other bows.

Be wary of firearms; some of the most damaging also chew through bullets at an astounding rate. Alternatives include the Tesla Rod and Tesla Gun (which run on charges); Acid Gun (poison); Pyrotechnic Gun, Flamethrower and a late-game find (fuel) and Blade Launcher (knives). Tranquilizer guns are great for tech-inclined followers, since they allow you to kill monsters yourself, which earns everyone more XP.

Electro Armour delivers a shock to anyone who hits it, especially with a metal weapon. And IIRC, in the patched game Machined Plate provides a ST bonus. Dread Armour has 10,000 HP (not a typo) but, like any other barbarian armour, comes with a built-in reaction penalty.

Smoking jackets offset reaction penalties, offering up a +20 reaction bonus (same as the spell Purity of Water, which stacks with it btw). Useless as armor, but great in town if you're race or background is cause for concern.

Regenerative jackets will heal you, but burn through charges like a machine gun thru ammo. Light of some sort, whether carried or worn on a helmet, offsets some of the lighting penalties at night and in dark areas.

Shield of Force damages anyone who attacks you; not by much, but still. Normally this is an asset, but there's one area of the game where you absolutely must not strike a blow of any kind; be sure to unequip this shield before going there.

TheSwordEmperor: 26. What determines when a follower gains a level? Is it based entirely on the XP you gain?

They level up when you do. Without the level cap remover, they'll continue to level up any time you would've made another level. Protip: as mentioned above, you get more XP for your attacks than they do for theirs; this is one of the reasons I've personally gotten out of using followers, except for their roleplay value.

TheSwordEmperor: 27. Opinions on the official modules, like Hellgate, Time, and Well of Souls? Incidentally, I don't know how to access/find those locations in the game itself. Are they automatically marked?

Personally, none. I haven't even bothered with Vormantown yet, and that one came with the game.

TheSwordEmperor: 28. While I'm at it, any fun facts I should know about the game? I run a video game blog at: http://theswordemperor.wordpress.com/ where I'll be posting about this game, and I like to prepare my reviews with as much info as reasonably possible.

Some of the master quests are pretty cool — the ones for Melee and Dodge, for instance, play off of each other — while others are something of a letdown. And as mentioned above, certain followers have scripts in which they interact with each other or particular NPCs... either upon first meeting, at the completion of a side quest, or as part of the main scenario.

Speedruns exist; they can be found on YouTube. Different endgame possibilities are available, depending on whether you're good or evil; it's actually possible to defeat the final boss in a rather unexpected way. And you can peruse this very board for specialty ideas, such as achieving every mastery quest under the level cap (yes, it can be done). The possibilities are for the most part limited only by your experience with the game and your imagination.

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TwoHandedSword

Sharp tongue, rapier wit, cutting sense of humor

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Mad3: I play a half orc, raised in the pits. I can increase the strengh to 21, but not higher. I do not have any mods, only the unofficial patch.

Right. Only half-ogres can go above 21 in the first place, so only they can continue past that. It was a rude awakening the first time my Raised in the Pits elf stopped at 20 ST.

Mad3: I want to play solo or with evil chars. So I do not care about what my followers think. I want to have most quests, especially the evil ones (As written, I played already a char with max int, cha and persuation to make everything good).

Pissed-off followers can be bribed for a time, but will eventually leave you, and maybe even turn on you, until you reach 20 CH. Keep that in mind.

Mad3: Are there good tech throwing weapons? Do you need perception for throwing? Some explosives look good, but you need to carry them around. But I need some strengh to wear the best equipment (self made) and other items without being encumbred.

Not really; the best nonmagical throwing weapon is actually tech-neutral, and is in a hidden location you can't find without already knowing about it (it's an Easter egg).

Perception is a dump stat for Throwing; all it does is increase your scrolling range, and you won't be sniping with a throwing weapon the way you might with a rifle.

Molotov cocktails and other explosives eat up space, but they're light and immune to friendly fire. Plus, a few points in Throwing means you'll be able to have them land exactly where you want them to.

Gnomish chainmail is light but strong (if you're small-sized) as is Featherweight Chainmail — or Arcane Leather, if you're going the magic route.

Mad3: I have heard that you can build a heal-bot. Does it need "ammo" to heal you?

No; it gets what it needs from the components used to create it. Just like the Pyrotechnic Axe and Envenomed Sword.

Mad3: Are there any useful rings or amulets for tech chars except the charged rings?

The Finger of [SPOILER], which is a late-game side quest item, provides a small boost to your WP, poison resistance, Melee skill and critical hit chance. It's tech-neutral.

Mad3: Do ranged weapons cause friendly fire? It happened often that enemies fired arrows at me and hit each other.

They can, if your Bow, Firearms or Throwing skill is low enough; you can miss your target and hit a follower or bystander in the same line of sight.

Mad3: Does every ranged weapon hit the closest thing, even if you target the thing behind it?

Again, this is a function of your skill, and any situational penalties. If your modified chance to hit is at least 100%, you not only can't miss your target, you can't critically miss anymore either.

Mad3: Is there any weapon that can hit more than one enemy? (Like many enemies stand behund each other in a line).

The Jolt spell can affect every enemy on an adjacent square; handy when you're surrounded by wolves or rodents. Grenades like the aforementioned Molotov cocktail also have an area of effect, with the added bonus of immunity to friendly fire. Some guns (like the Flamethrower) might be able to do what you're asking; I'm not familiar enough with them to give you a definitive answer.

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Half ogre caps at 24 ST and actual ogre (chukka) goes to 26, but really interested if there finally is a way to break that.

Also talk about stat caps: the starting +12 is max rule is perhaps generally true but wrong on some areas. This is because only race bonuses raise stat caps, but negatives have to overcome that amount to lower the cap. A half ogre gets +4 ST, but if you choose a sex/background combo that does -3 ST, you will still be able to take ST all the way to 24.

If some of the above questions asked still aren't clear to someone I can give a crack at the answer if you like. Regardless, great work as always TwoHanded.

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TwoHandedSword

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Pretty sure I just took advantage of the +6 ST from the 'Ran Away With the Circus' background. Been a number of years since I played that game, so I don't remember whether it included Drog's patch (and if it did, whether or not it was the most up-to-date version).

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Btw #23 about Torian Kel, i've found him being dead in the temple myself, might be that's what happened to you? (if you would leave and re-enter his corpse would de-spawn to? (only leaving any possible items he carried?)

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